Within the context of transmissions inside enclosed or semi-enclosed environments, the electromagnetic waves undergo fading phenomena related to the multiple paths resulting from numerous reflections of the signal off the walls and off the furniture or other surfaces envisaged in the environment. In order to combat these fading phenomena, a well known technique is the use of space diversity.
In a known manner, this technique consists in using for example a pair of antennas with wide spatial coverage such as two antennas of slot type or of “patch” type that are linked by feed lines to a switch, the choice of antenna being made as a function of the level of the signal received. The use of this type of diversity requires a minimum spacing between the radiating elements so as to ensure sufficient decorrelation of the channel response seen through each radiating element. Therefore, this solution has the drawback of being, among other things, bulky.
To remedy this bulkiness problem, the use of antennas exhibiting radiation diversity has been proposed. This radiation diversity is obtained by switching between radiating elements placed in proximity to one another. This solution makes it possible to reduce the bulkiness of the antenna while ensuring sufficient diversity.